Autumn Days
by SilenceEchoes39
Summary: In the first days of autumn in Konoha, a young girl awaits anxiously for her father's return. SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 700.


_So, Naruto ended last week and I'm still quite sad about it. But I was so pleased with the ending, it was the happy ending they all deserved after everything they'd been through and of course I was absolutely thrilled to see my OTPs canon! :D_

_This is just a short little story about Sasuke's daughter (who I fell in love with the first time I saw her picture on tumblr :3) _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>It was the first day of autumn. The air is crisp and tree branches are beginning to shed their leaves. Sitting alone in her bedroom, Sarada Uchiha gazed out of her open window. Since her bedroom was on the second story of her house, she had a good view of the village. From where she sat, Sarada had a nice view of the setting sun. Pinks and streaks of orange danced across the evening sky, the sunlight highlighting the roof tops of other houses. Down below she could see villagers walking along the pathways, heading home now that the day was coming to an end. She also had a clear view of the village walls and the village gates.<p>

The green doors were wide open; sending a friendly message that _Konoha_ was welcome to anyone.

Sarada stared at the open gate intently. From here she could see the dirt track that lead towards the village so she would be able to see anyone walking along it. Sarada couldn't see anyone walking along the track at the moment, but still she kept watching, hoping that she would catch sight of a tall male figure walking down the track and through the gates, black cloak billowing in the breeze.

The thought left a melancholic feeling hanging over Sarada and the young girl's lips pulled down into a frown.

It had been almost three months since she last saw her father. He had come home for a few days during the summer before leaving once more to continue his travels around the world.

Ever since Sarada was little, her father would always be off travelling, leaving her mother and herself behind. His absences from the village always varied; sometimes he'd be gone for a couple of weeks, other times he'd be away for month or two. Sarada remembered when she was younger she would cry and cry when her father left. She would sob and cling to his leg, wailing and begging for him not to go. But whenever she did that, he would just pat her head and tell her he would be back soon before her mother would have to come and peel her off and she watch from her mother's arms as her father walked away from them, with a runny nose and tears rolling down her chubby cheeks.

The sound of light tapping at her door brought her out of her thoughts.

"Come in."

There was the soft click of her door being opened and then her mother poked her head in. Her short pink hair was pulled back away from her face by a white kerchief and she wore her usual white apron over her red dress. A gentle smile donned her face.

"Dinner's ready, Sarada."

"Okay, I'll be there."

Sakura nodded and left her daughter be; closing the door behind her as she left. Sarada stood up from her stool and straightened her skirt as she did so. Before she walked away, Sarada looked one last time out of her window, only to find that there was no one new coming down the dirt track.

With a resigned sigh, Sarada turned away from her window and headed off to join her mother for dinner.

* * *

><p>Sarada took her place at the dinner table as her mother set a steaming bowl spicy miso and pumpkin soup in front of her.<p>

"Thank you."

"You're welcome dear." Sakura smiled and wiped her hands on her apron before taking it off and placing it neatly on the kitchen counter and joining her daughter.

"So how was your day at the academy today?" Sakura asked sitting down opposite Sarada.

"It was okay, we didn't really learn much today, Aburame- sensei just had us copy down some notes and we had to answer questions from our textbooks." Sarada answered stirring her soup for a little bit before deeming it cool enough to scoop up a spoonful and place it into her mouth.

"And did you answer all the questions correctly?" There was a hint of teasing in her mother's tone, but Sarada didn't heed it, just pushed her red-rimmed glasses higher up the bridge of her nose and looking at her mother directly.

"Of course I did."

The pink-haired woman laughed softly at the haughty and self-assured way her daughter spoke these words. She was so like herself during Sakura's days in the academy, always so confident in her academic abilities and taking any opportunity to show off just how much she knew, by consistently answering questions in class and bragging to all her friends what marks she got on her tests. And of course, there were also some of her father's traits shining through her young daughter as well. Which reminded Sakura.

"Oh Sarada, I forgot to tell you."

Sarada looked up at her mother expectantly, dark eyebrows raised in question.

"I got a letter from your father; he said he'll be coming home in about a week."

Sarada stared at her mother from across the table; still trying to fully process her words for in that brief moment she wasn't entirely sure if she had heard her mother correctly. Not a moment later that she was sure she had heard her mother correctly; a small smile began to make its way onto her face, her mood instantly brightening.

"R-Really?"

Sakura nodded smiling widely.

Happiness was bubbling inside her. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach spreading through her like thousands of little butterflies fluttering around inside her. She was always pleased whenever she heard that her father was coming home, but this time was different. This was longest he had been away and Sarada felt his absence more than usual. She missed him and she wanted to see him so badly, so hearing that he would be home within a week was as much a relief to hear as a terminally ill person being told their illness could be cured.

Sarada didn't say anything more, just continued with eating her soup; however Sakura didn't need her daughter to express words to tell that she was happy, the smile on her face was just enough.

* * *

><p>Sarada felt a chill pass through her while she sat on one of the benches outside the Academy, so she pulled her scarf tighter around her neck so that her lips pressed against the woollen fabric, and continued reading the book she held in one hand while she held a half eaten rice ball in the other. It was only the third day of autumn, but the weather had turned from warm to cold fast.<p>

Sarada sat alone since she was one of the only kids more interested in spending her recess reading than playing hide and seek or kick ball.

Not too far away from where she was sitting Chocho Akimichi, Shikadai Nara and Inojin Yamanaka were gathered together and Sarada managed to catch bits of what they were saying.

"Yesterday's training session was intense!" Chocho said between mouthfuls of potato chips.

"Inojin your mum's too intense." Shikadai said. "It's really troublesome when she gets all angry and pushes us too hard."

Inojin sighed. "You don't have to tell me about it, she's always really intense even at home. But at least we don't have training today, what are you guys planning to do after class?"

"My dad's taking me out for barbeque tonight!" Chocho exclaimed happily.

"Again?" Inojin asked incredulously. "Didn't you say you guys went out for barbeque last week?"

"Yeah so what?" Chocho placed her hands on her hips and gave the blonde-haired boy a sour look.

Inojin raised up his hands in defence hoping to appease the dark- skinned girl. "I'm just saying you guys sure go out to eat a lot."

"That's because it's fun!" Chocho said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Not only do we get to go out and eat all the food we want, but we get to hang out just me and dad, it's great."

"Alright if you say so."

Sarada frowned staring down at the open book in front of her but not reading the words. When was the last time she and her father went out together? Just to the two of them or even as a whole family?

But she wasn't going to dwell on it. She refused to. Her father was coming home in a week and then she would get to see him and maybe they could go out together. Until then she would just have to be patient.

* * *

><p>"What?" Sarada asked as she stood frozen in the hallway of her home early that morning.<p>

"Your father... he... he may not be able to make it home this week, Sarada." Sakura repeated.

Sarada stared at her mother in disbelief. Her mother had saddened look on her face, maybe it was because of the news she had to tell her daughter or whether she was upset because she would not get to see her husband soon, or both perhaps, it was difficult to tell.

Sarada didn't know what to think. She had just been about to head out the door and off to the academy when he mother had approached her and told her that she had heard from her father saying that he would not be able to make it home within the week.

"B-But he said that he would be."

"I know sweetie, but he's all way in the land of lightning and it's a long way from here so he might not be able to get here as soon as we expected."

Sarada didn't know what to say, couldn't think of anything to say. The disappointment she felt at the moment was overwhelming her. She felt hurt, sad and angry all at once. She curled her fingers into fists at her side and bowed her head so she looked directly at the floor, she could feel her lower lip begin to tremble slightly. But she refused to cry.

"Sarada..." Sakura spoke gently.

Sarada turned around and without another word, walked out the front door and closed it behind her, leaving behind her concerned mother.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day seemed to pass by slowly for Sarada. She was quiet for the whole day, she didn't speak to anyone and nor did she raise her hand to answer questions in class. When the end of the day finally arrived and children poured out of the academy to head home, Sarada lingered in the yard, sitting by the large tree with the old swing tied to it. Her mother was working at the hospital today and wouldn't be back by late afternoon, so Sarada wasn't it any rush to get home. The weather was colder than usual today and the cloudy grey skies seemed to promise rain sometime in the day. Sarada thought the weather fitting considering her mood. Sarada had her back pressed against the rough bark of the tree trunk with her legs pulled up against her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She let her mind wander to the only thing that had been on her mind all day.<p>

She had been so excited, so happy when she was told that she would get the chance to see her father again soon. But now her hopes had been dashed. Her father wasn't coming home and she had no clue when he would be coming home. Would it be another three months before she got to see him again?

Sarada could feel her eyes begin to sting and she knew it as the sting of tears. She could feel the moisture building up in the corner of her eyes and she did nothing to stop them, just pressed her cheek against her knee cap and stared down at the grass at her feet. She felt a small tear gather in her eyelashes and trickle down her cheek.

She just wanted to see her dad.

"Hey."

Sarada nearly jumped at the sound of the unexpected voice and when she looked up she was surprised to find Bolt Uzumaki, the son of the _Seventh Hokage_, standing in front of her, hands in his pockets and looking down at her with his incredibly blue eyes.

Sarada quickly masked the surprise on her face with irritation and turned her head away from her classmate, not wanting him to see that she had been crying. Both she and Bolt were in the same class, Bolt was loud, exuberant and brash. Sarada found him to be nothing but an annoying troublemaker; he was absolutely oblivious to formality and social standings, even though he was the son of the Hokage.

"What are you doing here?" Sarada asked managing to keep her voice level.

The blonde-haired boy just shrugged. "I'm waiting for my mum." He said. "She's coming down this way so she said she'd pick me up."  
>Sarada made no reply, hoping that if she didn't speak then Bolt would just go away. But he didn't.<br>"You know, usually when we're in class you never shut up."  
>Sarada scowled at him.<br>"I mean you're always answering questions in class and your answers are always so long that I find it hard to pay attention when you're talking."  
>Sarada sighed and as discreetly as she could, wiped her eyes of the years that gathered in them. "What are you even doing here, Bolt?"<br>Bolt came to stand next to her, leaning against the tree trunk with his hands clasped behind his head of blonde hair in a very blasé sort of stance.

"I just wanted to see what was up. You were so quiet today."  
>"There's nothing wrong and even if there was, it's none of your business anyway." Sarada snapped.<br>Bolt looked down at her a smug grin trying to force its way onto his face. "Yeah, which is why you were crying just now."  
>Sarada felt her face heat up in embarrassment. "I-I was not crying, you idiot."<br>"A-huh, sure." Bolt slid down so that he was crouching down next to Sarada. "But seriously, why don't you just tell me what's wrong, I promise I won't tell anybody else about it."  
>Sarada turned her head to face him, looking at him with a contemplative frown, deciding whether or not she really should tell him about her problems.<br>"My Papa was supposed to be coming home tomorrow, but he's not anymore because he's in Lightning Country." Sarada explained.  
>Bolt didn't say anything, just nodded and Sarada decided to elaborate further.<br>"He's always travelling you see, so I hardly ever get to see him and I haven't seen him in three months so when my Mama told me that he would be coming home soon, I was really happy and I couldn't wait to see him. But..."  
>"So you don't get to see your dad as much as you would like to, huh?"<br>Sarada didn't say anything and she didn't have to, the answer was so obvious, even someone as slow as Bolt could figure it out.  
>"That's kind of the same as me and my dad, ya know." Bolt said. "Since he's the Hokage he's always really busy and I don't get to spend a lot of time with him."<br>"But at least your dad is still in the village and you don't have to go three whole months without seeing him."  
>"Hm, I suppose that's true." Bolt admitted and then paused. "Hey, do you remember when there was that <em>Five Kage summit<em> here in the village a few weeks ago?"

Sarada nodded.

"And remember how I was talking about pulling a giant prank?"

"I remember."

"Well you may have seen it, by painted all over the Hokage stone faces."

"Really?" Sarada actually had seen it. On the day of the _Five Kage summit_, Sarada had secretly tailed Bolt around the village after he had spoken of some grand prank he was going to pull specially for the summit. But she didn't want Bolt to know she had seen it so she pretended to be oblivious.

"I knew that if I painted the Hokage faces my dad would come right away to scold me and he did. But he also told me that everyone in the village is like family to him so he can't be just _my_ father, so even though it's tough for me, I have to endure it because that's what it means to be a ninja."

Yes, Sarada had heard Bolt's father say that to him. She had watched from the balcony of a nearby building as the _Seventh Hokage_ sat his son down on top one of the Hokage's stone heads, hand on his head and gazing at Bolt with a loving smile on his face, telling him that he had to endure this hardship because he was a shinobi. That was when Sarada realised that although she found Bolt to be an incredibly annoying nuisance, they did share similarities when it came to their relationships with their fathers.

"So, I guess what I'm trying to say here is that, even though you miss your dad and even if it gets you down at times, you gotta keep enduring because that's what a true ninja does."

Bolt was grinning at her, that big stupid grin that reached ear to ear and making the whisker marks on his face stretch out.

Sarada felt heat bloom in her cheeks and she felt her heart rate quicken just a little from looking at him. Why was that? Why did she suddenly feel so light-headed simply from looking him?

"Big brother!"

Both children looked away from each other to see two new arrivals in the yard; a young woman with long dark blue hair pulled back into a ponytail with some strands let loose to roughly frame her delicate looking face. Sarada recognised her as the wife of the Hokage, Bolt's mother, Hinata Hyuga. She was holding the hand of a little girl with the same colour hair as her, only shorter and with the same sky blue eyes and whisker marks as Bolt, she was Bolt's younger sister, Himawari.

"Ah, that's my mum, I gotta go." Bolt said rising to his feet. "You remember what I told ya, alright?"

Sarada scowled adjusting her glasses. "Unlike you I don't forget things so easily." She replied snootily.

Bolt just smiled before running off to join his mother and sister.

* * *

><p>Sarada walked through the front door of her home later that afternoon.<br>"I'm home." She announced.  
>"Sarada, can you come into the kitchen please?" She heard her mother call out from the kitchen.<br>After she had slipped off her shoes and propped them neatly against the wall, she padded through the hallway and headed into the kitchen.  
>"Is something the ma-" Sarada found herself frozen in the kitchen doorway at the sight before her.<p>

Her mother was sitting at the table; a steaming cup of tea placed in front of her and sitting across from her, dressed in a long black cloak with black hair parted to the side to cover his left eye ... was her father.

He turned to look at her when she appeared in the door way and she felt herself stiffen under his onyx-eyed gaze, a gaze that intimidated all those who fell under it, including herself she had to admit.

He looked at her for a while before his stern features softened and small smile made its way to his lips.

"Welcome home, Sarada." He spoke in that deep baritone voice of his.

"P-Papa... B-But I thought that...?"

Her mother giggled. "He wanted to surprise us." She explained. "It turns out he arrived in the Land of Fire sooner than expected. Your father wanted to make it an even bigger surprise by saying that he wouldn't be coming home, isn't that right, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

Sarada was speechless.

"Well," Her father said expectantly, standing from his seat and folding his arms across his broad chest. "Are you just going to stand there? Am I to think that I came all the way here to see my daughter only to have her stare at me without giving me a proper greeting?"

And that's when Sarada lost her battle to maintain her composure. Without a moment's hesitation, she dropped her bag on the floor and ran to her father, throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his middle and burying her face into the warm fabric of his cloak. It didn't take long before she felt his arms around her, his big strong arms wrapping securely around her smaller body, making her feel like the safest person in the world. She barely noticed how he scooper her up and lifted her off the floor and she repositioned her arms to wrap around his shoulders instead and her nose pressed against the hollow of his shoulder. Her eyes burned with tears, but these didn't feel like tears of sadness. She wasn't sad. She was happy. Happy because her father was finally home and he was holding her in his arms, leaning his head against hers and absently rubbing her back in soothing motions.

Sarada felt her mother come and stand behind her father and felt her slender fingers caress the top of her head and Sarada sniffled.

They were together.

All three of them were finally together just like she longed for.

"Welcome home, Papa." She whispered in a shaky voice.

"Hn." She didn't have to look up at her father's face to know that he was smiling.

* * *

><p>Her father had been home for almost four days now and one morning on Sarada's day off from the academy, she came downstairs to find her father sitting at the table reading the newspaper. Her mother was working at the hospital, so it would just be the two of them for the rest of the day.<p>

"Good morning, Sarada." Her father said, turning the page in his newspaper.

"Good morning, Papa." Sarada shifted on her bare feet nervously from where she stood behind the kitchen counter, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

There was something she wished to ask her dad, but her nerves were preventing her from simply getting the question out of her mouth.

When she looked at her father sitting there at the table, face impassive and his endlessly dark eyes scrutinizing the newspaper in front of him, Sarada felt her nerves increase tenfold. But she reminded herself that he was her father and she was only being ridiculous and childish for feeling so scared.

"Papa," Onyx eyes flicked up from the newspaper to look up at her, "C-Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

Sarada took a deep breath. "Well I was wondering if... you wanted to-to do something... with me... today...?"

Her father regarded her for what felt like to Sarada an eternity and she found herself worrying that he may reject her and give her some reason for why he could not spend the day with her.

"What would you like to do?" He asked.

Sarada relaxed and let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "I thought that maybe we could go somewhere for lunch or go for a walk in the park?"

"Hn. Alright eat your breakfast and then we'll get going." Sasuke said with a tone of finality to his voice before returning to reading his paper.

Sarada couldn't stop the smile that lit up her face as she set to work in preparing herself some breakfast.

* * *

><p>Later on in the day, Sarada and her father were walking along the pathway through the park side by side. Sarada watched as orange coloured leaves drifted from the tree branches and landed softly on the ground. She looked up at her father, observing the calm expression on face; the cool breeze pushed a few strands of his black hair back out of his face. Her eyes drifted down to his hand which hung at his side. Her fingers twitched and she gathered up her courage before reaching out her left hand and timidly grabbing his, wrapping her fingers around his palm. It only took a moment before his fingers curled around hers gently, returning the hold.<p>

Sarada gazed at their hands; it was an odd sight, she didn't often hold her father's hand, but it was a sight that brought her happiness all the same.

Just this, walking hand in hand by her father's side, through the park on a beautiful autumn day, was all that she could ask for.


End file.
